BPA Featured Article

Call Center Agents: You Can't Do it Without Them

Being a call center agent has never been viewed as a glamorous or critical job role. Sure, for some regions the pay is better than elsewhere, and it sure beats flipping burgers for minimum wage. Yes, there are far worse jobs to be had – but dealing with customers, having your interactions monitored and being constantly under the gun to deliver quality service and care for callers can be a very stressful role.

Recognition of the taxing nature of call center work has lead to better training and more incentives – things like gamification and flexible scheduling to make jobs a little better.

There is also call monitoring that can record interactions and offer a chance to improve agent performance or recognize strong points and reward them.

But the significance of call center agents to the overall success of a business and brand is still not being emphasized enough.

This is the claim author Lorraine Schumacher is making in a recent article where she also offers tips for equipping agents with the tools they need to deliver the customer care the right way.

The truth is you simply cannot do customer service without agents. They truly are on the frontlines and a critical part of the organization. Holding these employees in a higher regard and recognizing the importance will help to ensure quality care is always being delivered. No company today can risk the consequences of frustrating their customers or, worse, sending them to the competition.

Since these employees play such a vital role, you’ll want to empower them to do more than just answer calls. They should be aware of trends and focused on responding to customers as quickly as possible regardless of the channel they are using to reach out.

Trusting agents enough to ask for their feedback or assistance with issues involving customers or changes to processes will not only show you value them as assets but also that you care about their opinions. It may also increase the chance they start getting more involved and dedicated to customer journeys.